The Stars Burn like Ash in the Sky
by ListlessLiar
Summary: This is how they'll forever keep the memory of this night, all warm hands, bright smiles and full lips that never seem to part for long. A moment nothing will ever be able to take away from them.


_Note_: Strangely enough I'm not an Emaya shipper and I've never been particularly fond of Maya as a character, but after a conversation with one of my friends over the dynamics of this relationship this idea was born. **Contains drug use** (because A: I refuse to believe Emily only smoked with Maya once and B: shotgunning is one of my biggest kinks ever). Warning, in case that isn't your thing. Takes place between 1x09 and 1x10.

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><p>Emily hastens her steps along the aging cement on the sidewalk. The sun sits low in the early evening sky as she tightens her modest jacket around her frame. It was still early in October, but the slight chill of fall weather was already making itself known.<p>

She'd told Maya to expect her by six, but making sure Spencer remembered to stick to their story and convincing her mother that she didn't need to eat an entire holiday feast before she left the house had taken longer than she'd anticipated.

Her father's impending arrival was making them both a little antsy it seemed, the torturous wait always did. Five days though, that's all she had to wait before she could see him in person again. No more fuzzy webcam reception or brief phone calls. Five more days and he'd be home.

When she nears Maya's house her pace slows a bit, looking over her shoulder as if her mother has been right behind her all along. She owed Spencer big for agreeing to cover for her. It wasn't as if she liked lying to her mother, but Emily knew that sometimes there were things her she'd be better off not knowing.

Like now, there wasn't much harm in letting her think she'd be at Spencer's studying for an upcoming Algebra exam. "Sometimes a lie is the best gift you can give someone," Emily had heard Alison say that once in an off-handed sort of way, like she thought no one was listening, but they were, always, at least Emily did.

She rings Maya's doorbell twice in quick succession, noting the empty driveway she'd been told to expect. Maya answers the door with a bright smile that Emily recognizes as the one that always feels special, like it's just for her.

"Hey, come in." Maya says as she ushers her into the door. It's always a little strange coming into the house now and seeing the changes Maya and her family have made. Almost everything is different, from the countertops in the kitchen to the carpet in the living room. Sometimes she forgets she's spent more time in this house than the _St_. _Germain's_have.

"Hi, sorry I'm late my mom wanted me to eat before I left the house and then I had to call Spencer to check and make sure she remembered." Emily's hands ring around the hem of her jacket, suddenly nervous under Maya's gaze. She's wearing _that_ smile again; taking in everything Emil y says like it's the most fascinating thing she's ever heard.

"Its fine, I knew you'd call if you weren't going to make it. I was just eating a snack, you want something?"

Emily eyes the apple slices on the counter with thinly veiled disinterest before shaking her head, "No, I'm pretty full from dinner."

"Alright, well let me grab a water and we'll go up."

It's not until they're at the top of the stairs does Emily gently tug on Maya's hand to get her attention.

"Hi," she responds to Maya's confused expression.

"Hi."

Emily lifts her head to press what is meant to be a chaste _hello_ kiss in substitute for the one her nervousness misplaced upon arrival.

It feels good to be able to do this, kiss languidly without shame, without the fear that she was doing something wrong, of being caught or of getting that feeling she always had with Ben or with other boys that something just wasn't quite right.

Maya tastes like apples, her hands soft where they rest against Emily's cheek and when her tongue skims carefully against Emily's bottom lip Emily can taste a hint of peculiar smoke when she accepts.

When they break apart, breathing a bit more heavily, Emily takes the moment to voice her question.

"Were you smoking earlier?"

"Yeah, sorry I thought I got it all before when I brushed my teeth" Maya moves her hand to her mouth, seemingly checking her breath. "I think I have gum in my room."

"It's not bad," Emily assures her, "it's just, I could tell."

"Oh. Still, sorry," it's Maya's turn to be nervous it seems so Emily chastely kisses her worry away and gently pushes her in the direction of Maya's room.

"Do you me to put on some music?" Maya asks, popping a piece of gum into her mouth anyway.

Emily, lost in her own observations, taking in the room's neat décor, the posters on the wall, the books on Maya's shelves, misses the question entirely.

"Emily?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Music?"

"Oh, yeah anything is fine."

Low, lilting guitar fills the room, a tune Emily vaguely remembers but can't place. It's slow and wistful, but striking at the same time.

"I know this." Emily says once they take a seat on the bed.

"Yeah, we've been playing the full string section in band everyday this week. You probably heard it wafting through the halls as Mr. Swigert tries in vain to rid us of all imperfections before next Saturday."

"What's next Saturday?" Emily's confused tone matches her furrowed brow. There hadn't been an announcement during the week about any upcoming school events and normally Rosewood High Student Council made it a habit to keep students up to date on all school happenings.

"Oh, band competition at Camden. _Everyone_ is on edge, it's crazy. I swear, yesterday I could have screamed if I saw one more eighth note."

"Why am I just now hearing about this?"

"Its _band_ Emily, news doesn't really travel farther than the brass section. And even if it did, not many people would be there anyway."

"I'll be there," Emily says on impulse but meaning it none the less. Maya's eyebrows scrunch together in a confused, stunned sort of way that makes Emily smile.

"You don't have to do that."

"Yeah I do, it's a big deal for you. Besides, I want to."

Maya smiles softly in disbelief, "Thank you." She says it softly like she's become winded under the weight of Emily's words or more the effect they've had on her.

Maya leans over to give Emily a kiss that like the one earlier in the hallway is meant to be brief but doesn't end as such. Emily's hands rest on Maya's thighs, warming her skin through the denim of her jeans.

Emily slides back against the bed, Maya following after her until their legs get tangled in the blanket. They try to maneuver around it with their lips still connected, partaking in a ridiculous sort of dance with Emily shifting her hips and Maya lifting the corners up every so often until in a flash she ends up in a heap on the floor, the blanket in no better a shape than it'd started.

Emily tries not to laugh at the state of them but loses the battle right after Maya does, rolling her eyes at her own clumsiness. Just as she moves to stand the music on her computer cuts out, signaling its need to be charged.

Sighing as she stands, Maya garners Emily with a look of mock exasperation. "I left my charger downstairs. Will you take care of this _deathtrap_ for me?" She motions to the wrinkled blanket still very much on the bed.

Emily nods in response, biting her lip slightly as she watches Maya recede into the hall in search of her charger.

It was a strange thing, being this happy; she hadn't known the feeling for what seemed like so long. To be light and free, like all the worries she'd ever had were washed away with the shadows under the setting sun.

Emily makes quick work of folding the blanket and places it on the chair at Maya's desk only to notice the tail end of an electrical plug stick out from a drawer beside it. She opens the drawer, fully intending to tease Maya about her absentmindedness when she returned. When she pulls the cord up it drags the other contents of the drawer along with it and scatters them across the floor.

In the midst of cleaning up her mess Emily comes across a Wright's mints tin that sticks out in her memory. She knows what's inside, had seen the contents the first day she'd met Maya. But unlike that first day where the sight of it had brought an acute anxiousness to her body, when she sees it now Emily stares back with a strange sense of fondness. If she'd only known then where she'd be, standing again in Maya's bedroom fresh from all but making out on her bed. It was unexpected, unbelievable but she was here and she wouldn't take it back for anything.

"Okay, either someone is playing a trick on me or I'm losing my mind," Maya announces as she comes into the room, stopping short when she sees the item in Emily's hands.

"Why do I suddenly feel like I just crashed a party I wasn't invited to?"

"No, I found it when I saw th-,"

"Emily, its fine." Maya cuts her off, more amused than anything at Emily's response.

"It was in the junk drawer right?"

"Yeah, the charger was sticking out of it."

Maya takes the tin from Emily's stilled hands, brandishing her with an easy smile.

"I'd offer you some, but I not sure that should be our thing, though I did enjoy corrupting you."

"I told you I didn't mind and I wouldn't now." Emily takes a small bit of pride in Maya's surprised expression. It felt good to know she could shock her, to let Maya know that she wasn't just stuck in some continuous routine, she could be spontaneous.

"Twice in the same month?" Maya tisk's her tongue in a teasing manner, "Maybe I did corrupt you."

Emily shrugs to emphasize her reply and watches Maya bite her lip as if she's deciding something. Their gaze levels for a few loaded seconds before Maya grabs the blanket from its position atop the chair and extends her other hand in Emily's direction.

"Come on then, if you're sure?" It's more of a question than anything else and Emily likes that, that Maya's giving her room to back out if she wants to.

Emily takes her hand, "I'm sure."

They walk back into the hall and Maya leads her to the room across from hers. It's a guest bedroom now but Emily remembers it as Jason's not too long ago.

The room's layout is similar to her own, but instead of a window seat an oversized window on the far wall leads to the small balcony overlooking the backyard garden.

Emily watches as Maya slides the glass open a bit and lays the blanket on the floor.

"Come on badass." Maya extends her hand giving Emily a teasing smile as they sit across from each other on the blanket.

Emily's eyes follow Maya's hands as they busy themselves with preparing the joint. Trim fingers splay as she tries to evenly distribute the ground leaves through the rolling paper. Emily almost laughs at the concentration on Maya's face as she rolls the paper up and down in her direct eye line making sure to even out any lumps.

Maya sends her a look as she tucks the excess paper over and prepares to lick it shut.

"You're laughing at me now?"

"Of course not. I understand, this is _very_ serious business." Emily teases.

"Make fun all you want, but the details are important." Maya replies as she finally twists the end of the paper slightly.

Lighter in hand, Maya lights the end sucking in smoke at the same time to keep the blaze growing.

Several strong puffs later, blowing smoke toward the open window, Maya passes to Emily with a self-satisfied smile.

"The details are _very_ important."

Emily inhales in a stilted sort of way, trying to remember what instructions Maya had given her the last time. _Slow and easy._

She tries and fails, taking in too much after a series of quick releases and on the exhale, a cloud of smoke rises from her mouth upwards into her face.

Emily can feel her eyes begin to water in revolt against the smoke rushing into her eyes and back into her lungs before she can take a tainted breath.

"Slow down," Maya laughs freely into the air; it's not malicious like Alison's might have been, all biting scorn and poorly hidden exasperation at Emily's innocence. No, Emily likes Maya's laugh, its warm and light, filling her with something akin to the flutter of excitement she get's just before that first contact with the water during a swim.

Maya has a spark behind her eyes. It's somewhat like Alison's, but different at the same time. That familiar hint of mischief, yet without the haughty malevolence just brimming at the surface, waiting to come out.

"Like this", Maya shows her again, wrapping her lips around the joint and inhaling in a slow, sensual fashion that shouldn't be nearly as attractive as Emily finds it. Before Maya can fully exhale Emily's lips are against her own, wisps of smoke filtering out between them every time they break contact.

It might be the haze the heady smoke has put her under, or her own impatience with their former limited contact breaking through, either way Emily doesn't care. The kiss is fierce, an implicit understanding of their current situation.

Maya's hands all but singe Emily's skin as she slips her fingers underneath Emily's thin shirt. It's incendiary, dangerous, everything Emily's never been, and it's over far too soon.

Maya pulls back suddenly, her breath coming out in warm pants against Emily's neck.

"I have an idea", Maya says, her eyes alight with that same spark. Maya takes the joint between her lips again, inhaling fully, beckoning Emily closer.

For a moment Emily doesn't understand her intention and leans closer for another kiss. Just before their lips make contact Maya exhales, a stream of pungent smoke making its way between Emily's parted lips.

Emily isn't prepared and her reaction is off timed, breathing in more murky air than thick smoke.

Maya smiles despite it, gauging Emily's reaction with a questioning glance. At Emily's nod of assurance Maya repeats the process, keeping her eyes leveled with Emily the entire time.

This time Emily's reaction is on point, taking in the smoke with ease, exhaling like Maya showed her.

Maya smiles at her success, "The details are important," she repeats.

"Yeah, I guess they are."

Maya taps lingering ash into the tin and moves to smoke again. Emily leans closer in response but this time Maya doesn't blow the smoke in her direction, she breathes out then inhales the smoke again through her nose, a flawless French inhale, before exhaling in the form of perfect O shaped clouds.

"Now you're just showing off."

"Yeah, a little bit." Maya admits, smiling widely.

Its Emily's turn and she has no illusions up her sleeve, no fancy smoke magic tricks to dispense so she instead repeats their previous routine and leans close to blow the smoke into Maya's mouth.

It's different this time, with her doing it, it adds to the tension in the room somehow and when Maya goes to expel their shared breath Emily closes the gap between them, tongue tracing faintly over Maya's bottom lip only to tug on it slightly with her teeth when she pulls back a second later.

Maya's eyes are hooded again; part euphoria, part arousal. Emily's only certain of which one wins out when Maya suddenly pulls her by the waist into her lap.

Kissing had previously always been an uncomfortable experience for Emily. She'd always been either too eager, with Allison, or too apathetic, with Ben, and always, always too aware of herself and her doubts.

She doesn't know why it's different with Maya, why her hands move on their own accord to the bare skin exposed by a shirt that's ridden up and jeans that have slipped low on Maya's hips. Or why when Maya's lips skate down to her neck, her only thought other than finding a way to catch her breath and keep her racing heart from beating out of her chest is kissing her again and again until every other has been erased from their memories. But it is.

It's like she's in a trance she never wants broken and Maya intends to keep it that way. Taking one last, long drag from the now almost minuscule joint, Maya claims Emily's neck again releasing the smoke slowly along with every kiss, lick and bite.

Senses heighted, warm breath and tickling smoke take hold of Emily's soul until she's sure she feels Maya everywhere, in every desperate huff for air, in every racing heartbeat, in every loaded glance. They lock eyes after Emily lets out a particularly loud moan and any other time Emily would be embarrassed, ducking her head low with her cheeks turning bright red. But this time she doesn't, a combination of her inebriated state and Maya's calming presence, she giggles, loud and lighthearted like she hasn't a care in the world.

Maya joins in and it isn't long before they're rolling across the blanketed floor, laughing into the silent room under a rapidly darkening purple sky kissing between chuckles and frenzied gasps for air. This is how they'll forever keep the memory of this night, all warm hands, bright smiles and full lips that never seem to part for long. A moment nothing will ever be able to take away from them.

Later when she returns home under the gleam of stars blurred to her sight by drizzling night rain, Emily will think of how she'd felt only hours ago with goose bumps riddling her skin gifted from Maya's hands and the same stars boring down on them like a blessed spotlight, warming her from the inside out like the ash she's watched float through the air like forgotten time.

She'll think of all the nights they'll have again, nights not formed on a patchwork of lies but where her whereabouts are as transparent as smoke wafting through the morning air. Emily thinks of goodnight kisses that feel like they'll never end and the look on Maya's face when they do, like she's still amazed she can do this, kiss Emily anytime she wants, at her locker before class, on the stoop of her house without reservation. Emily thinks that this moment, this feeling is the best thing she's ever felt.

Falling in love may just be worth it this time.


End file.
